CS 3001 Midterm Exam Questions and Answers Fully Solved Latest Version 2025-2026
What hapened with the Therac-25? - AnswersThere was a malfunction with the software due to many
casual factors which led to multiple accidents which also led to 3 deaths between 1985-1987. There
were 11 installed machines and 6 accidents. FDA did not have any formalized procedures at the time
and the company creating the machines, AECL, were Canadian. For every accident, there are an
estimated 600 close calls/minor incidents. Low reporting bc of peer pressure, fear of regulatory bodies,
and fear of lawsuits.
What are the differences between the Therac-20 and 25? - Answers20 had built in hardware checks
which contained the possibility of overdosing but the 25 relied solely on software which was integrated
with the machine and led to overdoses.
What was the cooporate response to the Therac-25? - AnswersAECL repeatedly said "that's not
possible" when told of errors. Falsely said they increased safety by 5 orders of magnitude. A better
response would include warning users, and recreating the error to understand the problem. When
radian machines are taken out the market, life changing treatment is not as accessible.
What are the casual factors for the therac-25? (10 things) - Answers1. Overconfidence in software
2. Confusing reliability with safety
3. Lack of Defensive Design
4. Failure to eliminate root causes
5. Unrealistic risk assessments
6. Inadequate investigation or follow-up on accident reports
7. Inadequate software engineering practices
8. Software reuse
9. Safe versus friendly user interfaces
10. User and government oversight and standards
Examples of artifacts with intentional politics? - AnswersBridges in NYC are built intended to keep poor
people away from beaches because public buses are not able to go there. We know it was intentional bc
the designer was racist and said racist things.
Example of artifacts with unintentional politics? - AnswersStairs were not intended to exclude people in
wheelchairs. Another example is the tomato harvester. It saves money but gives advantage to big farms
and tougher tomatoes are made.
, Example of something that is not wrong, but harmful. Example of something is is wrong, not harmful -
AnswersFor first, taking a job that someone else needed it more.
For second, white hat hacking: hacking into OS to tell developers about an error.
Relativism
Cultural relativism - AnswersYou are a passenger and your friend speeds and get into an accident.
Depending on what culture the people were, they would rat them out. Saying it is relative does not
explain anything due to cultural differences.
Explain both types of Utilitarianism - AnswersAct U: Performs analysis on each act and how much
utility/happiness it generates for affected parties.
Problems:
-does not account for innate sense of duty. It says breaking promise is okay if it generates for happiness.
-morality has nothing to with intent.
-no absolute right. i.e. okay killing someone to give 10 ppl organs.
Rule U: Adopt moral rules, if followed by everyone, will lead to most utility/happiness.
Advantages over Act U:
-calc is easier.
-would argue keeping promise benefits everyone if followed by everyone.
-solves problem of bias. "is it okay for EVERYONE to do it?"
-solves problem of moral luck
Deontology/Kantianism - AnswersBased upon rationalist view that the rightness or wrongness of an act
depends upon the nature of the act, rather than consequences.
What are the categorical imperatives? - AnswersFirst formulation:
"Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws."
Ex. you can break a promise
-illogical as it contradicts the whole point of making a promise.
What hapened with the Therac-25? - AnswersThere was a malfunction with the software due to many
casual factors which led to multiple accidents which also led to 3 deaths between 1985-1987. There
were 11 installed machines and 6 accidents. FDA did not have any formalized procedures at the time
and the company creating the machines, AECL, were Canadian. For every accident, there are an
estimated 600 close calls/minor incidents. Low reporting bc of peer pressure, fear of regulatory bodies,
and fear of lawsuits.
What are the differences between the Therac-20 and 25? - Answers20 had built in hardware checks
which contained the possibility of overdosing but the 25 relied solely on software which was integrated
with the machine and led to overdoses.
What was the cooporate response to the Therac-25? - AnswersAECL repeatedly said "that's not
possible" when told of errors. Falsely said they increased safety by 5 orders of magnitude. A better
response would include warning users, and recreating the error to understand the problem. When
radian machines are taken out the market, life changing treatment is not as accessible.
What are the casual factors for the therac-25? (10 things) - Answers1. Overconfidence in software
2. Confusing reliability with safety
3. Lack of Defensive Design
4. Failure to eliminate root causes
5. Unrealistic risk assessments
6. Inadequate investigation or follow-up on accident reports
7. Inadequate software engineering practices
8. Software reuse
9. Safe versus friendly user interfaces
10. User and government oversight and standards
Examples of artifacts with intentional politics? - AnswersBridges in NYC are built intended to keep poor
people away from beaches because public buses are not able to go there. We know it was intentional bc
the designer was racist and said racist things.
Example of artifacts with unintentional politics? - AnswersStairs were not intended to exclude people in
wheelchairs. Another example is the tomato harvester. It saves money but gives advantage to big farms
and tougher tomatoes are made.
, Example of something that is not wrong, but harmful. Example of something is is wrong, not harmful -
AnswersFor first, taking a job that someone else needed it more.
For second, white hat hacking: hacking into OS to tell developers about an error.
Relativism
Cultural relativism - AnswersYou are a passenger and your friend speeds and get into an accident.
Depending on what culture the people were, they would rat them out. Saying it is relative does not
explain anything due to cultural differences.
Explain both types of Utilitarianism - AnswersAct U: Performs analysis on each act and how much
utility/happiness it generates for affected parties.
Problems:
-does not account for innate sense of duty. It says breaking promise is okay if it generates for happiness.
-morality has nothing to with intent.
-no absolute right. i.e. okay killing someone to give 10 ppl organs.
Rule U: Adopt moral rules, if followed by everyone, will lead to most utility/happiness.
Advantages over Act U:
-calc is easier.
-would argue keeping promise benefits everyone if followed by everyone.
-solves problem of bias. "is it okay for EVERYONE to do it?"
-solves problem of moral luck
Deontology/Kantianism - AnswersBased upon rationalist view that the rightness or wrongness of an act
depends upon the nature of the act, rather than consequences.
What are the categorical imperatives? - AnswersFirst formulation:
"Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws."
Ex. you can break a promise
-illogical as it contradicts the whole point of making a promise.
